It’s interesting how one of the shortest verses in the bible is just two simple words, “Rejoice Always.” As I sit here writing this column, I am in a hospital bed in a post-op room following surgery and will have a pretty rough week ahead of me. Yes, I will “Rejoice Always,” and fortunately, a good outcome should await with a higher quality of life.
In life, every individual has a choice, a fork in the road, if you will. We can take the high road, which we will call the “PMA Road,” Those who choose the low road, the “NMA Road, live in a world that at best is partly cloudy rather than partly sunny. I will never forget my mother telling of one of her co-workers, a germophobe who had chosen the NMA road. He was ultra-paranoid of anything that might contain germs or make one ill. He was quick to tell others of their possible fate of not protecting oneself from this or that. You guessed it, he was diagnosed with cancer and died in his early forties. My mother, now in her eighties, chooses to “Rejoice Always” and is quick to be an encouragement to others on life’s path.
Napoleon Hill was an author from years back who wrote “Think and Grow Rich” and ‘Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude.’ Current studies have proven Hill’s writings that a negative mental attitude (NMA) can cause chronic stress, depression, anxiety, digestive tract, and cardiovascular problems and a weakened immune system. NMA has even been proven to contribute to the onset of Dementia and Alzheimer’s diseases.
On the flip side, studies have also proven that a positive mental attitude (PMA) will increase a woman’s lifespan by 15% and man’s lifespan by 11%, on average. This is primarily due to the better health habits of exercise, little to no tobacco and alcohol use, better eating habits, and lower cardiovascular diseases due to lower stress levels.
A PMA also leads to greater financial success. “Money isn’t a means to a happy life. A happy life is the means to money,” said Abraham Hicks. So how can this be? It’s actually very simple. A life of an entrepreneur is full of opportunities and setbacks. With NMA, we focus on the setbacks and all the potential failures. Then we become paralyzed by fear. On the flip side, with PMA entrepreneurs focus on all the opportunities. They can see “the diamonds in the rough” and what great potential EACH can have. Then in comparison to those with NMA, thinking of all the hard work that will be needed and the potential financial pitfalls.
I can’t emphasize enough; you must surround yourselves with those with PMA and avoid those with NMA!! You become who you hang out with, and this even applies to collision social media groups. I am just waiting for these doomers to start spreading the future date of the coming collision industry apocalypse and imminent death of all independent shops!!
It's sad to see that many of the followers of these types of groups have so much NMA that their businesses most often stay stagnant. They’re quick to post a win with a particular insurer, but their business continues to stay flat. It’s almost a cult-type thinking, and their mind is just packed full of cobwebs! Now don’t get me wrong here, folks, I am fighting the same fight as you folks are every day. I just had an insurer deny completed safety inspections, which included measuring a steering column, and then denied completed ADAS calibrations. Without question, we made sure our customer left in a safe and properly repaired vehicle. So, why didn’t I take the carrier to court? Well, l understand the brevity of life and I just happen to see this carrier almost weekly. I have a documented tab with them, and I will collect their debt in full, plus interest.
In the end, don’t get sucked into the vortex of negativity of NMA thinking; your physical and mental health will deteriorate. I guarantee it! Always be on the lookout to pull individuals up and out of that NMA. Every time I help someone, I get to make their life better, and it makes mine better, too, even if it doesn’t always come with financial gain. Never forget to “Rejoice Always!”
